Antique Silver: Hallmarks That Identify The Real Thing

A leopard`s head, a prancing lion, letters that stand for years, marks representing a city or town--all are clues. But this is no game. These are clues to identifying antique silver.

``Silver is a trick,`` said antiques expert Mary Ann Ballard, ``but once you get the hang of it, it`s easy to identify.``

One of the oldest metals known to man--``a noble metal, second only to gold``--silver was used as tableware by royalty centuries ago while common people used wooden plates, bone, shells, cast iron and stoneware, said Ballard. ``But silver became a practical thing to use when the mines opened up and silver became plentiful.``

Oddly, while silver has a particular smell and taste, it doesn`t affect food. Thus it became a popular material for goblets, platters and tureens. However, it was ``buyer beware`` in the 12th Century, just as it is today.

``People bought silver for investment, and the investment wasn`t there because no one knew how much silver and how much alloy was in a piece,``

Ballard explained during a recent seminar in Miami. ``So in 12th Century England, silversmiths formed their first guild to set standards. Duty was imposed on silver and hallmarks were required to identify it as sterling.``

In the earliest British sterling silver, the following marks were required:

-- The sovereign`s head, represented by a leopard`s head with a crown.

(``It was supposed to be a lion, but someone became confused,`` said Ballard.)

-- A letter in a cartouche (an ornamental enframement) representing the year, which was changed every year.

-- A mark denoting the point of origin, city or town where the piece was crafted.

-- A lion passant (standing on four feet) or a lion rampant (standing on hind legs) ``must appear for it to be authentic English silver,`` said Ballard.

-- The maker`s mark. ``There might be exceptions, as a silversmith using contraband silver wouldn`t want his mark on it.``

Ballard said the silversmiths put hallmarks anywhere on the piece, sometimes ``right on the side like a gesture of rebellion.`` The English tax collectors were so nit-picky that if a particular item, such as a wine strainer, had three pieces, each one had to bear the hallmark. Should one piece have been lost over the years, a substitute piece might have been made without a hallmark to avoid paying taxes on it.

Hallmarks changed through the years and varied from country to country. In the 1700s, the full figure of Britannia was used for about 20 to 30 years, ``making it very scarce silver,`` said Ballard, who brought some of her family heirloom silver to the seminar.

Her favorite piece is a small commemorative cup with a mark containing both the leopard head and lion passant. The cup had been presented to the first foreman on the HMS Bounty in 1789.

The oldest piece in Ballard`s collection is a silver lady`s slipper that dates from the time of Queen Elizabeth I. Made in repousse (patterns made in relief), the slipper was probably part of a sewing kit and might have had a velvet liner to hold pins. ``All noble women did needlework,`` Ballard said, which might explain such an elaborate sewing accessory.

The shapes and sizes of various silver pieces help to tell how people lived and entertained and even what the economy was like ages ago. For example, from the mid-16th Century on, tea, coffee and hot chocolate were beginning to be enjoyed. But the serving pots were quite small, she said, because the beverages ``were so expensive and were served sparingly in small cups.``

On the other hand, early sugar containers were quite large because sugar, not yet refined, consisted of big, raw lumps. When sugar was refined to a granular substance, sugar shakers were made in silver.

Tea services could be sterling silver, but the tray that the pieces rested on couldn`t be sterling. ``Sterling is too soft and heavy, so the tray would have an alloy in it,`` Ballard said.

Salt was another precious commodity centuries ago. She showed an elaborate silver ``master`` salt dish that would have been owned by a duke, a prince or a lord. The salt dish was placed directly in front of the noble host, and the closer a guest was placed to the host--and the salt--was significant. If you were seated ``below the salt,`` your rank left something to be desired.

Very fine silver was made in the American Colonies, and hallmarks were less complicated than the English marks. Paul Revere (1735-1818), not one to waste time when there was a horse to ride and a message to deliver, simply marked his silver pieces ``Revere.``

American coin silver got its name during the American Revolution when English sterling was melted down for flatware. ``It has a high silver content and it is a fine collectible,`` Ballard said.

Plated silver, a process of fusing silver and copper, was invented in the mid-1700s, making silver more affordable. Ballard said one will find exquisite designs in plated silver as well as in sterling.

Today, one should collect silver for its beauty, design and craftsmanship, not for its dollar value, she advised. Silver is currently worth only $6 an ounce, but Ballard believes ``silver eventually will be valuable again. When silver went to $50 an ounce, so many people turned in their silver that the factories turned people away. But after the factories took their share for melting down the silver, the seller ended up getting only a fraction of what it was worth.``